Door construction



H. E. JESSEN DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 25, 1962 IIII-IJHIHIIIIHIII May 24, 1966 rags 3,252,262 DOOR CONSTRUCTION Howard E. `lessen, Glenview, Ill., assignor to Ceco Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed Jan. 25, 1962, Ser. No. 168,686

Claims. (Cl. 52-621) The present invention relates to a novel door assembly in which the component parts of the door are constructed and assembled in a novel manner to provide a metal panel that iscompletely ush.

Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of a novel door or panel construction consisting of a channeled bottom skin or base providing one side and the opposite vertical edges of the door, a top skin or -cover providing the other side of the door with said bottom and top skins joined together along their flanged edges, an inner core adhesively joined to the interior of the spaced sides of the metal door, and end closure members conformably received and anchored in the open top and bottom ofthe door.

The present invention further comprehends a novel means for interlocking engagement between the abutting flanges on the bottom and top skins forming the opposite sides of the door.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel door and method of assembly of the door components whereby a resulting completely ush assembly of these components is elfected.

Further objects are to provide a construction of maximum simplicity, eiciency, economy and ease of assembly and operation, and such further objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and are inherently possessed thereby.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a door or closure assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the bottom skin or base forming one side and the vertical edges of the door assembly.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective of one end of the assembled door panel.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged view in horizontal cross section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows with the skins shown prior to assembly.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary enlarged view in vertical cross section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. l and viewed in the direction of the arrows.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of one of the channel memi United States Patent O bers forming the top and bottom closures of the door panel.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view taken on the line 7 7 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the inturned flange on the bottom skin and one of the longitudinally spaced slots in this ange, and showing in dotted outline one of the tabs on the inturned flange of the top skin or cover in its position of entry in the slot and in solid lines in the locking position it occupies when moved longitudinally in the slot to interlocking engagement.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged view in side elevation of the tab shown in FIG. 7 and showing the slope of the tab to provide a wedging action upon a skin interposed between the tab and its ange.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 9 9 of FIG. 7 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring more particularly to the disclosure in the drawing wherein is shown in detail an illustrative em- ICC bodiment of the present invention, the novel door construction or panel comprises a base or bottom metal skin 10 of channel shape, a top metal skin or cover plate 11, a top channel member 12 and a bottom channel member 13 forming closures for the opposite ends of the door panel, and an internal exible filler or core of honeycomb or expanded paper 14 adhesively affixed to the bottom and top skins 10 and 11.

The bottom skin 10 has longitudinally extending end portions 15 and 16 providing the spaced vertical edges and defining the width of the door panel, with each edge portion having suitable openings fol the mounting of' hinges or door hardware, and an inturned or inwardly directed dange 17 or 18, respectively. The top skin 11 has'its opposite edges 19 and 21 inturned or turned back to provide a flanged edge for contacting engagement with the adjoining flanges 17 and 18 of the opposite edges of the channelled bottom skin 10.

The top inwardly opening channel member 12 and the similar bottom inwardly opening channel member 13 are interchangeable and each adapted to provide a flush closure for the upper and lower open ends of the door panel and retained in assembled relation by suitable spotwelding. As shown, each top and bottom channel member 12 and 13 is conformably received within an end of the assembled bottom an-d top skins 10 and 11 forming the opposite sides of the door panel, and provided with a flange 22 along one edge and a ilange 23 along the other edge, the flange 22 being cut away at -24 at its corners and the flange 23 being cut away at 25 at the corners to a greater degree than at the corners 24 to conformably receive the edges of the overlapping flanges 17, 18, 19 and 21.

The inner surface of the bottom skin 10 is coated at 26 with an adhesive 27 (FIG. 2), as is also the inner surface of the top skin or cover 11 at 28 and the opposite edges of the paper, core 14 for bonding these edges to stops short of the flanged edges 15 and 16 and the topy and bottom of the bottom skin 11.

The depth or thickness of the paper core or liner is somewhat greater than the spacing between the inner face of the bottom and top skins 10 and 11 whereby when these skins are in their assembled relation the opposite edges of the expanded or honeycomb paper core 14 are bent or distorted and these edges adhesively joined to the adjoining skin.

The present invention comprehends a novel means and manner of securely attaching the preformed top skin or cover 11 to t-he preformed bottom skin 10. This is eiected by providing longitudinally spaced slots 34 in the inturned fianges 17 and 18 of the bottom skin 10 and similarly spaced tabs 35 on the underside of the inturned anges 19 and 21 of the top skin or cover 11 as shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. The elongated slots 34 (FIG. 7), include a relatively narrow rectangular portion 36 at one end opening into an enlarged rectangular portion 37. The tabs 35 are punched out of and depend from the flanges 19 and 21 so that when the top skin is disposed in the position shown in FIG. 3, each of its spaced depending tabs 35 is adapted to be aligned with and inserted into the enlarged portion 37 of a corresponding slot 34 in the anges 17 and 18 of the bottom skin 10 as shown in dotted outline in FIG. 9. Then when the depressed top skin 11 is moved longitudinally in the direction of the arrow, each tab 35 moves in its slot 34 and the slope of the tab provides a decreasing space to contact and wedge the flanges 17 and 18 onto the inturned flanges 19 and 21 to provide interlocking engagement with the underside of the inturned flanges 17 and 18 of the bottom skin 10 deining its slot 34. To insure retention of the top and bottom skins in their iinal assembly, the overlapping flanged portions thereof may be spot-welded or otherwise secured togeth-er such as adjacent the upper and lower ends.

The top and bottom channel members'lZ and 13 (FIG. 6) are then inserted as shown in FIGS. 3 and 5 and retained assembled as by means of spot-welding or by means of a suitable adhesive capable of joining these metal parts to the top and bott-m of the metal skins 10 and 11.

In the assembly of the novel door constmction, adhein the door. Then in the assembly of the door, the core 14 expands to provide an intimate contact between the adhesive 27 on the skins 10 and 11 and the core.

To facilitate assembly of the top skin 11 to the bottom skin 10 after placement of the paper core 14 on the latter, spaced, narrow strips extending longitudinally and for approximately the length of the door may be placed over the paper core or liner to separate therefrom the adhesive on the top skin or cover 11. The latter is then moved into position for assembly and the strips are longitudinally withdrawn. Then with the interlocking tabsl 35 on the top` skin 11 aligned with the slots 34 on the bottom skin 10, upon relative longitudinal movement of the members 10 and 11, the top skin 11 is slightly bowed, after which the resulting assembly is passed through resilient rollers to flatten the top skin.

To maintain the skins assembled, these metal components of the door are preferably spot-welded along the edges wherever required. Then the interchangeable top and bottom channel members 12 and 13 are inserted into the opposite ends of the previous assembly and anchored therein either by means of an adhesive or by spot-welding.

The terms and expressions which have been employed herein are used as terms of description and not of limitation, and there is no intention, in the use of such terms and expressions, of excluding any equivalents of the features shown and described or portions thereof, but it is recognized that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention claimed.

Having thus disclosed the invention, I claim:

1. In a door panel, a metal plate forming one side and vertical edges of the pan-el with said vertical edges having inturned longitudinal flanges spaced from and parallel to said one side, and a second metal plate forming the other side of the panel and having inwardly bent longitudinal anges along the periphery and parallel to the plate mounted in alignment with the inturned anges of the other plat-e, said 'anges of the iirst plate having spaced elongated narrow slots with an enlarged end at one end of each slot, and the anges of the second'plate having projecting tabs integral therewith and corresponding to said slots, each tab having an enlarged central portion and a narrow leg at each end, and when the tabs are inserted into the enlarged portions of the aligned slots and the s-econd plate moved longitudinally relative to the rst plate, each tab is moved and wedged beneath the narrow portion of the slot.

2. yIn a door panel as set forth in claim 1, in which each tab is inclined relative to its ange whereby relative movement in assembly of the metal plates in one direction causes said inclined tabs on the anges of the second plate to have wedging engagement underneath the slotted flanges of the first plate to pull said plates together into interlocking engagement. p

3. In a door panel as set forth in claim 1, in which the enlarged central portion of each tab is larger than the narrow slot but smaller than the enlarged end of the slot, and the integral legs of the tab are of somewhat less width as and conformably received in the narrow slot.

4. In a door panel, a rst metal plate forming one side and the longitudinal edges of the door panel with said edges having inturned longitudinal flanges spaced from and parallel to said one side, an-d a second metal plate forming the other side of the door panel and having longitudin'al anges bent inward upon and parallel to said second plate, and mounted in alignment to contact 'the anges of Ythe rst plate, said flanges of the rst plate having spaced elongated narrow slots therein with an enlarged portion at one end of each slot, and said anges of the second plate having projecting tabs aligned' with the slots in the first mentioned flanges, each tab having a central enlarged portion and a leg at each end integral with the enlarged portion and the flange, said legs on each tab being of unequal length so that the enlarged portion is inclined relative to said last mentioned flange, said legs being of a width substantially equal to but less than the width of the elongated narrow slot and the enlarged inclined portion being of a width greater than the narrow slot but slightly less than the wid-th of the enlarged end of the slot, and when thev tabs are inserted into the enlarged ends of the slot with the legs fitting in the narrow portion of the slot, and the plates are moved relative to each other, each tab is moved and wedged beneath the narrow portion of the slot.

5. In a door panel as set forth in claim 4, in which the relatively longer leg of each tab enters the narrow slot first with the shorter leg of each tab entering the'narrow slot last to provide the wedging action of the tab.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 310,223 1/1885` Rappleyea 292--300 y1,323,488 12/1919l Peckens 292-300 1,728,964 9/1929` Gross 189-36 X 2,020,337 11/1935 Schwartz 52-619 2,148,789 2/1939l Unger 189-36 X 2,653,686 9/1953 Routt 189-36 2,851,133 v 9/1958 Steele 52-666 3,070,196 12/1-962 Switzgable 52-404 FOREIGN PATENTS 556,833 10/1943 Great Britain.

RICHARD W. COOKE, JR., Primazy Examiner.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Examiner.

R. S. VERMUT, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A DOOR PANEL, A METAL PLATE FORMING ONE SIDE AND VERTICAL EDGES OF THE PANEL WITH SAID VERTICAL EDGES HAVING INTURED LONGITUDINAL FLANGES SPACED FROM AND PARALLEL TO SAID ONE SIDE, AND A SECOND METAL PLATE FORMING THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PANEL AND HAVING INWARDLY BENT LONGITUDINAL FLANGES ALONG THE PERIPHERY AND PARALLEL TO THE PLATE MOUNTED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE INTURNED FLANGES OF THE OTHER PLATE, SAID FLANGES OF THE FIRST PLATE HAVING SPACED ELONGATED NARROW SLOTS WITH AN ENLARGED END AT ONE END OF EACH SLOT, AND THE FLANGES OF THE SECOND PLATE HAVING PROJECTING TABS INTEGRAL THEREWITH AND CORRESPONDING TO SAID SLOTS, EACH TAB HAVING AN ENLARGED CENTRAL PORTION AND A NARROW LEG AT EACH END, AND WHEN THE TABS ARE INSERTED INTO THE ENLARGED PORTIONS OF THE ALIGNED SLOTS AND THE SECOND PLATE MOVED LONGITUDINALLY RELATIVE TO THE FIRST PLATE, EACH TAB IS MOVED AND WEDGED BENEATH THE NARROW PORTION OF THE SLOT. 